It seems every metal and rock legend will be at Black Sabbath and Ozzy Osbourne’s final show—except one.
So far, the July 5 farewell event, dubbed Back To The Beginning, features performances by Metallica, Guns N’ Roses, Soundgarden, Wolfgang Van Halen, Sammy Hagar, and many other A-list rock stars. But, Rob Halford and Judas Priest aren’t involved.
What gives? Both Priest and Sabbath come from Birmingham, England. Both bands pioneered heavy metal in the 1970s. And Halford has sung with Black Sabbath in the past (subbing in for other singers). So why is Judas Priest not playing?
Blame it on a scheduling conflict. “I had no idea it was happening!” Halford told Metal Hammer. Judas Priest was already committed to play the 60th anniversary show of hard rockers Scorpions when Black Sabbath announced their farewell show.
“It all got announced and was a big deal – Scorpions and Priest – and suddenly I get this phone call [from Sharon Osbourne]: ‘Robbie, I know you’ve got this gig with Scorpions, but could you consider coming over to do a thing with Ozzy and the guys, he’d love to see you,’” Halford tells Metal Hammer.
The Scorpions show takes place in Hannover, Germany. It’s possible that Priest could play, fly over to England, and play Ozzy’s last show. But Halford thinks it’s too risky.
“Even with a private plane, there’s a word called ‘technical’, where something could go wrong, or the weather that time of year could cause problems,” said Halford.
And after realizing he’ll miss Black Sabbath’s final show, the singer said he was “absolutely gutted.”
Halford said that Judas Priest’s founding guitarist, K.K. Downing (who left the group in 2011), would play the show and represent “the spirit of the band.”
“All my mates are going to be there though, great bands and artists,” he added. “It’s a wonderful and epic moment for Sabbath and heavy metal – it re-emphasises that Birmingham is where metal came from.”
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